Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer of all-time, has died at age 74.
Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay Jr on January 17, 1942. He is considered the greatest and most recognised sportsman of the past 100 years.
Clay won his first world heavyweight championship in 1964 at age 22. He would play 61 fights and score 56 wins with 37 knock-outs. He only lost five times.
Clay changed his named to Muhammad Ali after converting to Islam. Three years after winning the championship Ali was conscripted into army to serve in the Vietnam war but refused to go.
“Man, I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong, no Viet Cong ever called me ‘nigger’,” he said and “I am not going 10,000 miles to help murder, kill, and burn other people to simply help continue the domination of white slavemasters over dark people the world over. This is the day and age when such evil injustice must come to an end”.
In 1984 the champ was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Syndrome, a disease most likely started from head trauma from his boxing matches.
As well as a sports hero Ali recorded the spoken word album ‘I Am The Greatest’ for Columbia Records in 1964 and recorded the song ‘Stand By Me’.
In 1978, Ali appeared in the movie ‘Freedom Road’ playing Gideon Jackson, an ex-slave in the 1870s.
In 1979 he also appeared in an episode of ‘Diff’rent Strokes’.
Muhammad Ali died in a hospital near Phoenix after being treated for respiratory complications.
Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Australian moment:
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